Bangalore-based Zolo, which offers managed co-living spaces to students and professionals, has raised $30 Mn in a Series B funding round led by existing investor Nexus Venture Partners and IDFC Alternatives.

Bengaluru, 07 Jan, 2019. RedNewswire/-

Mirae Asset, a South Korea-based independent financial services group also participated in the new funding round. The transaction is estimated to have pushed up the company’s valuation by more than $100 million.

Zolo was founded in September 2015 by Nikhil Sikri, an alumnus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Indian School of Business, and Akhil Sikri, a computer science graduate from IIT Delhi.

The startup offers fully managed, ready-to-move affordable rooms and apartments to young working professionals and students. Users can make a booking either via its mobile app or website.

Zolo had last raised Series A $5 Mn funding from Nexus Ventures Partners in December 2016.

The startup currently operates in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Kota and has tied up with numerous building owners and large developers for its expansion plan.

The company claims to have grown its bed count of 2,000 beds by 800% to 16,000 beds in the last two years with 157 properties managed by Zolo. “We are targeting 50,000 beds by the end of this year and would expand to 3-4 cities where there is large student population such as Manipal,” said Nikhri Sikri.

“Zolo is addressing a large and real problem of providing quality affordable living solutions for young professionals in urban India. We are delighted to support them in their vision to provide end-to-end, convenient housing solutions to these students/individuals alike and build a successful community with strong social connect,” said Ashish Dave, Head Venture Investments at Mirae Asset Global Investments (India).

“Co-living is a very large and financially attractive market and we are happy to back Zolo to establish co-living as an asset with their promising solution,” said Gaurav Sharma, partner at IDFC Alternatives.

Sameer Brij Verma, a partner at Nexus Venture Partners, said, “Zolo has registered strong growth in a short span of 3 years and we are confident that their approach and execution can extend across several other markets.”

Zolo claims that it has grown twelve fold since then and plans to clock 10 times growth in the next two years. It plans to boost its current staff strength of 350 people by hiring another 200-300 by the end of 2019. Zolo has raised a total of $35M in funding over 2 rounds.